The Glazers Prepared To Sell Manchester United For $3.75 Billion
Manchester United is arguably one of the biggest football clubs to ever exist in the sport. The team is from Old Trafford in Greater Manchester and was founded in 1878. Originally the home stadium for the club was in Newton Heath, but it was transferred to Old Trafford in 1910.
Manchester United Golden History
The English club plays in the English top flight, Premier League, and is the most successful team in the league’s history as they have won the league 20 times which is more than any other English team. They have also won 12 FA cups, five league cups, and a record 21 FA community shields. Their success in European competitions has also been commendable as they’ve won the Champions league three times and the UEFA Europa League once.
The club achieved its peak success under the management of Sir Alex Fergusson from 1986 to 2013.
Manchester United won 13 premier titles under his managerial reign, making him the most successful manager in British football history. He announced his retirement as the manager of Manchester United on 8th May 2013 as the most successful football manager in the world with 38 honors to his name.
Ever since the departure of Sir Alex, United has not been the top club it was before. Several managers came in after Sir Alex, including David Moyes, Van Gaal, and Jose Mourinho, but all failed to win the league even once.
The Glazer Family Took Over Man. United
The Glazer family took over the club’s ownership through a hostile takeover in 2003, drowning the club in debt.
Due to the legal issues before the takeover, the Glazers were insufficient in providing investments in the team. If it was not for the pure genius of Sir Alex, a football manager, the red devils could’ve fallen down the path of failure before it did.
As soon as Sir Alex left the club in 2013, the owner’s incompetence started to show up. While Manchester City was building a sensational squad for the future and Chelsea was flowing in money to build the team, the champions of England were handed over to a new manager with a squad that was rotting away.
The squad built by Sir Alex was aging as most players were approaching the end of their careers. The board barely trusted a manager for more than a season, giving them no time to settle in and build the squad they wanted. The club supporters have protested against the board since their takeover in 2005, and these failures over the years have just added to the fans’ frustration.
Fans Protests Against Glazer Family
The fans have continuously demanded the club be sold to new owners in the hopes of bringing in ownership who cares about the football being played at the club. Despite these constant protests over the years, years full of embarrassing results and trophy-less seasons, the Glazer family has firmly held on to their ownership of the club.
Many potential buyers have popped up here and there, but glazers have always refused to let their board get dismantled and even to put a price tag on the club for any such suitors.
The start of the 2022 season has been horrendous for Manchester United, and even club legends like Garry Neville have now clearly called out the Glazers to leave the club’s helm. After years of refusal to put the club on sale.
Glazers Ready To Sell Manchester United
However, Glazers has finally taken a positive step towards selling the English club by releasing a set asking price of 3.75 billion euros.
The said price tag can potentially rise to 5 billion euros after further discussions.
This amount seems out of range for most potential buyers, although it is well within the budget of various sovereign wealth funds worldwide. Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia already have Manchester City and Newcastle United under their ownership in the English Premier League.
This news could be a bright opportunity for Dubai to join the above states. Another potential buyer is the owner of INEOS and the French club Nice, Jim Ratcliffe. Jim is a boyhood Manchester United supporter through and through and had shown his interest in buying the club a few weeks before the release of this price tag by the Glazers.
Jim is even interested in investing for the betterment of the club if his buying option is restricted for any reason. His commitment to the club and its ethics is an extremely important quality that the Club’s supporters have been asking for more than a decade now. Supporters are looking to play a vital role in this change of ownership as per the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust.
